Key Champions League battles as Real Madrid take on Bayern Munich

14-time Champions League champions Real Madrid will take on six-time champions Bayern Munich on Wednesday in a delightful semi-final second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu.

After a 2-2 draw in last week’s first leg, the tie is on a knife’s edge.

AFP Sport analyzes where the second leg could be won and lost.
Lunin vs Neuer: new star against experienced greats

Manuel Neuer, widely recognized as one of the greatest goalkeepers in football history, is still going strong at 38 years old.

Vinicius Junior beat him twice in the first leg, but the German world champion, as is often the case, made some key saves.

Bayern need him to be as strong as ever if he wants to return to Wembley, 11 years after his London victory over Dortmund.

His counterpart, the inexperienced Ukrainian Andriy Lunin, was the unexpected star in the quarterfinals against Manchester City with two penalty saves.

With Harry Kane in excellent goalscoring form, Lunin will also need to be at his best, especially if the 25-year-old is to keep his place with the return of Belgian stopper Thibaut Courtois after a long injury absence.
Kane vs Rudiger: A Heavyweight Battle

German defensive stone Antonio Rudiger will once again have the task of containing Harry Kane, something he did quite well in Munich, although the English striker converted a penalty.

With Rudiger patrolling, Kane could be tempted to drop further down to play between Bayern’s speedy wingers.

In a strong position to win the Golden Boot for European top scorer (he has 36 Bundesliga goals), Kane is battling with Kylian Mbappé to also finish atop the Champions League scoring charts. Both have scored eight goals.

The England captain is also looking, at 30 years old, for the first trophy of his career, which he dreams of winning in his homeland, at Wembley.
Kroos vs Laimer: fight in the center of the field

Toni Kroos, the 34-year-old Madrid metronome who brilliantly created Vinicius’ first goal at the Allianz Arena, shone in Munich, especially in the first half.

The second half was more complicated, as his team was caught by surprise by a much more enterprising Bayern.

This was partly due to the man directly opposing him, Konrad Laimer, who was everywhere, pressing and recovering the ball.

The Austrian proved capable of accelerating the game by passing or running into the spaces left by Kroos.

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti will surely have realized this and could use Eduardo Camavinga in midfield and move Aurelien Tchouameni back into central defense to help plug any gaps.
Battle for wing dominance

In the first leg, the danger always came from the extremes, for both teams.

German duo Leroy Sané and Jamal Musiala, who scored and created Bayern’s two goals respectively, and Brazilian snipers Rodrygo and Vinicius can open up the game with their explosive pace and skill.

Each did their part to give the opposing defense a torrid evening.

Vinicius, playing more centrally, darted into space behind Kim Min-jae to attack, and Sané returned to form with a fine individual goal after giving up Ferland Mendy.

Musiala committed the penalty conceded by Lucas Vázquez and converted by Kane, while Rodrygo forced Kim to commit a foul to prevent him from turning inside the area and Vinicius equalizing.